Who to blame for ever-expanding big government perverting the founders’ vision? Was it Lyndon B. Johnson, the Great Society big daddy, who enlarged entitlements to near-Soviet scale?
Or Franklin D. Roosevelt, progenitor of regulations and taxes on railroads, banking, beer, wine, farming, securities, home and farm mortgages, while a

Why do seemingly good ideas go astray?
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. voiced a common sense, moral guidance when he said his dream was, “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
How did such a noble desire ge

Complete this famous quote by George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are … .”
If you can’t fill in that blank, you’re even more likely to be living out its message. As a nation, we are doing just that. It’s the Dumb and Dumber approach: Do something dumb, forget how dumb its consequence

President John F. Kennedy is known for the truism: “Life isn’t fair.”
JFK’s Democratic Party, however, has tirelessly tried to make life fair. It’s such an infectious concept, both parties seem intent to make life fair, if not for everyone, then at least for those whose votes they seek. Who could be against

In 1836, Americans said “Enough!” and took a stand at the Alamo. What started it? Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna decided his people were incapable of ruling themselves. He threw out the constitution, dissolved congress, declared himself dictator and punished states resisting his expanded, central government. Tex

Remember dad?
Was he the Simpson’s bumbling fool from that grownups’ cartoon TV show, an oxymoronic concept if ever there was one? D’oh, man! Or maybe he was the too-good-to-be-true Cliff Huxtable, the heart-warming father figure who in real life turned out to be something of a disappointment. Bill Cosby did what?

Most of the time, most people are reasonable, except, perhaps, when it comes to their most cherished fictions; that’s where permanent blind spots reside.
Politics is like an ointment that fogs our perceptions, making what should be clear as opaque as our permanent blind spots. Before the political season’s deluge of ads, spee

If the truth will set you free, then what about the opposite?
Are there bad consequences for lying? Is it harmful to believe lies?
In government based on the consent of the governed, what could go wrong? What happens when politicians and government authorities continually lie?
The Associated Press recently reported on the

Liberals and leftists, or “progressives” as they now prefer to be known, have a hard sell. They must persuade people it’s good for the government to take their money and to tell them what to do.
These people, however, reflexively recoil when someone demands that of them. The conservative and libertarian message is insti

This is our 239th anniversary. Most people don’t call it an anniversary. They call it the Fourth of July, which is odd, considering only in the United States do we celebrate the day, although everyone on earth experiences July 4.
The way it should be referred to, but isn’t much anymore, is “Independence Day.” Even

The gun isn’t the threat. The threat is created when bad guys have guns, and good guys don’t.
When Ronald Reagan first ran for president, a Secret Service agent recalls the candidate carried a pistol, “Just in case you guys can’t do the job, I can help out.” Once elected, Reagan reportedly carried a handgun

The stimulus president has another shot in the arm for America: Free community college. Perhaps we should call it “freer community college.”
A great percentage of adults attending the two-year schools already don’t pay much, if anything, thanks to Pell Grants and other considerations. President Barack Obama wants to ext

Welcome to the Year of Living Dangerously, a.k.a. 2015. This time next year, how much impending doom will we have dodged?
No, we’re not referring to global warming – a fictitious horror story polls tell us ranks lowest on Americans’ list of concerns. Despite claims that 2014 was the “hottest year on record”

Progressives must be overjoyed. Nineteen states increased minimum wages Jan. 1, and three more will do so this year.
If progressive economic theory holds water, why not stick it to the remaining states as well? Overnight, America’s lowest-paid workers could be vastly better off, and, consequently, businesses’ sales would soar

The trend we are experiencing of ever-expanding government overreach should worry not only those getting the short end of the stick today, but also those who will find themselves getting the short end in the future. Ceding power to government thugs may sit well for awhile with those who are on good terms with the thugs.
But there will co